Telluride's fall off-season tends to get treated as one long pause between the last gondola ride and opening day. The 2026 calendar has a different shape. The Visit Telluride Off-Season Dining Fall 2026 schedule shows restaurants closing in two separate waves. The first wave ended this week. The second starts in mid-November and peaks during Thanksgiving week, right as Telluride Ski Resort aims to open on Thursday, November 26.
So the week the town starts filling up is not the week the restaurants come back. Some return just before it. Others leave during it. If you're planning dinners for the next four weeks, that sequence matters more than any single closure date.
The First Wave Has Already Passed
By today, most of the first-wave closures are in effect. The schedule shows Sidework closing October 3 and staying closed until December 17. La Marmotte closed October 11 and reopens December 10, and La Cocina de Luz closed October 15. The Coffee Cowboy cart and General Store both closed October 18 and return December 4. On October 19, the New Sheridan Bar, the New Sheridan Chop House and the New Sheridan Rooftop Bar all closed through December 3.
Up the hill, the closures came all at once. Alloy Kitchen, Black Iron Kitchen, Kettle Coffee, Timber Room and La Piazza del Villaggio are all listed as closing October 26. Tracks Café & Bar closed October 23. The Telluride Brewing Company Brew Pub in Mountain Village has been closed since October 11, with its return listed as TBD. In Mountain Village, The Village Market is the one place on the schedule marked open daily.
The gondola stopped after Sunday, October 25. That's a week later than the usual fall schedule, according to the Town of Mountain Village. In that release, TMVOA Board Chairman Paul Zoidis said TMVOA is funding the extra weeks, and that "when we asked our businesses whether a longer season would help, the answer was a clear yes." Several Mountain Village kitchens timed their closings to the gondola's last day. For the next three weeks, dinner out effectively means dinner in town.
How the Two Waves Hand Off
These are the listed fall 2026 dates, in order.
| Date | Closing | Closed through |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 19 | New Sheridan Bar, Chop House, Rooftop Bar | Dec. 3 |
| Oct. 23 | Tracks Café & Bar | Nov. 22 |
| Oct. 25 | 221 South Oak; Allred's; gondola's last day | Nov. 12; Nov. 25; gondola reopens Nov. 20 |
| Oct. 26 | Alloy Kitchen, La Piazza del Villaggio, Black Iron Kitchen, Kettle Coffee, Timber Room | Nov. 19; Dec. 2; TBD for the last three |
| Nov. 15 | The National | Dec. 4 |
| Nov. 21 | Floradora Saloon | Dec. 4 |
| Nov. 24 | The Patio | Nov. 28 |
| Nov. 26 | Telluride Ski Resort's targeted opening day | — |
Read top to bottom, the table shows the second wave starting while the first is still unwinding. 221 South Oak's listed closure ends November 12. Three days later, The National closes. Alloy Kitchen's closure ends November 19 and the gondola returns November 20. The next day, Floradora closes. La Cocina de Luz and Tracks both reach the end of their listed closures on November 22. Two days after that, The Patio closes for Thanksgiving week.
The Restaurants That Stay Open Through Both Waves
A small group of restaurants is listed as open through the whole stretch. These are the in-town and nearby options for the next four weeks, with the hours on the fall schedule:
- Brown Dog, open daily, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Smugglers, open daily, noon to 8 p.m.
- Butcher & The Baker, open daily: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday
- Cornerhouse Grille and Steamies Burger Bar, both listed as open daily
- Last Dollar Saloon and West End Bistro, both listed as open
- Rustico, Tuesday through Sunday, 5 to 9 p.m.
- Kazahana, Tuesday through Saturday, 5 to 9 p.m.
- Stronghouse, Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 8 p.m.
- There., reopening after October 27 for Wednesday through Sunday, 4 to 9 p.m.
- Telluride Brewing Company Craft Kitchen & Pizza in Lawson Hill, Wednesday through Sunday, and Conoco in Lawson Hill, open daily
- Clark's Market, open daily
The hours matter as much as the names. Of the in-town spots with posted evening hours, Brown Dog, Rustico and Kazahana run until 9 p.m., and There. runs until 9 p.m. on its open days. Smugglers and Stronghouse close at 8 p.m. Mondays are the tightest night, since Rustico, Kazahana, Stronghouse and There. are all closed. The National is the one exception for the next two weeks. It's open Tuesday through Saturday, 4:30 to 9 p.m., from October 20 through November 14, then closes on November 15.
Thanksgiving Week, Day by Day
Put the second wave next to the opening-day target and Thanksgiving week takes shape. By Tuesday, November 24, the New Sheridan restaurants, La Marmotte, Sidework, The National, Floradora and The Patio are all closed at once. On the mountain, Allred's is listed as closed through November 25, the day before the targeted opening. Some restaurants do come back that week. Alloy Kitchen returns after November 19, and both La Cocina de Luz and Tracks reach the end of their listed closures on November 22. But a large share of the town's familiar dinner rooms are closed through Thanksgiving Day, and most don't return until December 3 or 4.
On the Mountain Village side, La Piazza del Villaggio is listed as closed until December 2. Siam Talay reopens December 10 and Communion Wine Bar on December 11. Black Iron Kitchen, Kettle Coffee and Timber Room have no reopening date yet. The gondola starts its winter schedule at 6:30 a.m. on Friday, November 20, nearly a week before opening day, so the ride between town and the Village is back well before many Village kitchens are.
Visit Telluride notes on the page that it is still updating the list for fall, and several end dates still read TBD. Treat the schedule as each business's published plan, and check with the restaurant directly before booking a Thanksgiving week table.
What's On Before Opening Day
The events calendar runs alongside both waves, and much of it is free or close to it. In date order:
- Young Frankenstein, Oct. 29–31. Telluride Theatre and Telluride Middle-High School stage the musical at the Palm Theatre, at 6 p.m. tonight and Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday. The listing advertises buy two, get one free.
- Mountain Sprouts Preschool Halloween Dance Disco, Oct. 30. From 4 to 6 p.m. at The Patio, with a DJ, scavenger hunt, crafts, food and drinks, and a silent auction that benefits the preschool.
- KOTO Halloween Bash, Oct. 31. At The Alibi from 9 to 11:30 p.m., with the Denver band RADO.
- Mountainfilm for Locals, Nov. 2. A free 90-minute screening at Wilkinson Public Library at 5 p.m. Free pizza is first come, first served.
- Adult Spelling Bee, Nov. 6. At The Alibi, with a $100 prize for the winning team and 10% off a drink if you show a library card.
- Semana de Bienestar / Wellness Week, Nov. 12–15. It's on the Town's 2026 calendar, along with the Rainbow, Rockies and Rascals Fall 2026 Fundraiser on November 13 at the Telluride Science and Innovation Center.
- KOTO Ski Swap, from Nov. 13. Used gear and discounted ski passes at Wilkinson Public Library. The Visit Telluride listing runs it through November 15, and the Town's calendar shows November 16.
- Girl Winter Film Tour, Nov. 20. At the Sheridan Opera House at 6 p.m. The roughly two-hour program has five films, a Q&A and a poster signing. It falls on the same day the gondola reopens.
The events line up with the dining schedule. Mountainfilm and the Spelling Bee land in early November, when the open-restaurant list is shortest but steady. The Ski Swap and Wellness Week fall just before The National closes. The film tour and the gondola's return on November 20 come one day before Floradora closes, as the second wave begins.
The quiet weeks before opening day are also when many owners take a fresh look at their own plans for the winter ahead. If that includes a property question, O'Neill Stetina Group is available for a discreet conversation before the season picks up. Schedule a Private Consultation.
